After a near-miss in the Sydney to Hobart, back to the bike

Date: December 31 2012

Rupert Guinness

FOR Stephen Ainsworth, top of his ''to do'' list on Monday morning, after almost winning back-to-back handicap honours in the 628 nautical mile Sydney to Hobart yacht race on the weekend, will be to go for a long ride by himself on his racing bicycle.

On his return to Sydney from his 15th Sydney to Hobart on Sunday, the 58-year-old confirmed this year's race would be his last on his 19-metre Loki, which he has put up for sale, and that he will now put more energy into his new sport of choice - cycling.

''I'm looking forward to getting on the bike and going for a ride to Palm Beach,'' he said.

Ainsworth will still return to Hobart on Tuesday for the awards ceremony as winner of his division and runner-up on handicap.

While he would have loved to have won on corrected time, Ainsworth - whose yacht crossed the line on Friday night - was happy with second place behind Wild Oats XI, which won line honours on Friday morning in a record time of one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds.

Wild Oats XI was officially declared handicap winner on Saturday in a corrected time of three days, 10 hours, 26 seconds, while Loki's corrected time was three days, 12 hours, 43 minutes, and third-placed Black Jack's was three days, 14 hours, 46 seconds.

''We did a great job, challenging as we did,'' Ainsworth said. ''It was when the southerlies hit us near the end that we realised the handicap win was out of reach. It was on the nose for about the last 100 nautical miles and we knew Wild Oats XI was well in and had won [line honours] on record time. It was really Wild Oats XI's record pace that got [the handicap win] for her.''

An added bonus for Ainsworth is that Loki's result also secured overall victory in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's six-race Blue Water pointscore series. ''We were confident going in and we were not too shabby - second overall, first in division, and the Blue Water pointscore,'' he said. ''It doesn't get much better, especially for my last race for a while.''

Had Loki won on handicap, it would have been the first time since Freya's hat-trick in 1963, 1964 and 1965 that a yacht had won back-to-back titles. Loki's performance impressed Wild Oats XI's skipper Mark Richards. ''They won the Hobart last year and came second this year,'' he said. ''That's an amazing result. [Ainsworth] was my favourite to win the Hobart on handicap … And they ended up coming second.''

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